Amazon India builds 'big' web lead over Flipkart

Amazon India is now well ahead of homegrown etailer Flipkart in overall website traffic, including both PCs and mobileShalina Pillai | TNN | June 23, 2016, 08:56 IST

Amazon India is now well ahead of homegrown etailer Flipkart in overall website traffic, including both PCs and mobile, according to data gathered by Kotak Institutional Equities from web traffic analytics company SimilarWeb.

Although the report did not have separate numbers for mobile web and PC traffic for the two companies, the data, for the period from November 2015 to May 2016, showed that Amazon generated between 33% and 62% more monthly traffic than its Indian rival.

Amazon had an average monthly user visit of around 180 million, far ahead of Flipkart's 120 million.

Even in mobile app, where Flipkart still has a huge lead in downloads and usage, the US online retail giant is seen to be fast catching up. On Google Playstore, Amazon was ahead of Flipkart in app ranking in June, according to Kotak, which got the data from mobile-app analytics company App Annie.

Playstore rankings are based on downloads and other attributes such as, frequency of interaction with the app, number and quality of ratings, number of backlinks, and number of uninstalls.

In February, Flipkart's app ranking fell off the top 10 ranks in Google Playstore, while Amazon climbed up a few positions. In June, there is no etailer in the top-10 ranked apps. Amazon India was at No. 14 and Flipkart was two positions below that at No. 16.

In terms of app downloads, Flipkart said in February that it surpassed 50 million installs on Google Playstore. Amazon's app downloads are between 10 and 50 million.

Mails to both Flipkart and Amazon did not elicit a response. In December, Amazon had said that its India site was the most visited e-commerce site in the country. That looked to have been based on PC traffic. Now, not only does it appear to have significantly increased its lead, it also encompasses the mobile web.

This would have happened partly because of Flipkart taking its eyes off the web, in its effort to focus on the mobile app. Its fashion subsidiary Myntra had withdrawn from the web early last year, and Flipkart too was considering a similar move, given that over 70% of the traffic comes through mobile. But Myntra recently got back on the web, in an admission that the plan had backfired.

Amazon's acceleration would also be because the parent company has committed billions of dollars of investment in India. Even as Flipkart struggles to raise more funds, Amazon recently announced an additional $3 billion of funds for India.

"Flipkart may still be a leader but the big message is that Amazon is challenging them. Amazon also has the leverage of having strategic investor backing. India is important for Amazon and it has made it clear," said Pragya Singh, VP at retail management consulting firm Technopak Advisors.